Excerpt: Deviance (Subject to Change)

Being Social Gathering Room No. 1, it was the biggest, most “fancy”, and most wanted one in the Facility. You could only get the room in advance booking, and even then it could be months in advance. Every chance they got, Safe from their... table, as it so seemed (usually Peter), would book sessions for months, sometimes a year in advance, at least once a month. As it was, the time invested in such a thing was definitely worth it.

Looking around, Social Gathering Room No. 1 was definitely incredible. The entire space was as big as at least ten, or fifteen Residential Areas. There were six separate Mood Lighting Systems, spread over six sections of the Social Gathering Room, which could either be synchronised to provide a uniform lighting across the room, or into separate sections so that Safe could go from one to the other and have it personalised. In hidden compartments around the room there were several entertainment systems, such as those that provided a virtual sports experience, allowing one to compete with others, or such simulators as flying fictional crafts through imaginary solar systems. Also provided were special Nutrition supplies that were focused on taste instead of nutritional value, so that the Nutrition schedule of the patrons there would not be messed with in any way. Stimulative Music Systems were hidden around the room as well, providing everything from near sleep inducing music to music near the likeness of music meant for strenuous exercise (yet not like the ones that Gloria used while she worked).

Currently, the mood lighting was a strong, dark shade of red, a colour that encouraged spontaneity in conversation and a feeling of exhilaration (blue, of course, encouraged peace). It was uniform throughout the room, and no entertainment system was in sight. The only thing there was, and the only thing that usually was there during their Social Gathering, a large, round table. The people there sat on cushioned seats with arm and back rests, reaching occasionally for a Nutrition supply sitting on a circular, raised platform on the table, talking and laughing as loudly as they liked. “Matthew, Gloria!” Peter called, waving at them. “They have a new selection of Nutrition supplies; check them out!”

Matthew gave Peter a wide smile, already influenced by the lighting and lively stimulative music. He sat down next to him (there were two empty seats), and Gloria sat in the one next to him, next to Ashley. Following Peter's suggestion, Matthew picked up a cube from the centre of the table. It tasted good; it stimulated his taste buds in a way that he seldom ever got to experience. He savoured it slowly, preparing to reach for another one.

Gloria, in the meantime, had already started up another conversation, effortlessly tying in with the ongoing conversation to start a fresh one of her own; currently about the new Nutrition supplies sitting on the platform before them. They tasted good, and reminded her of rather unrelated things; crisp, like the sharp edge of metal, yet rich and thick -- generally pleasing. Everyone, after sampling yet another cube, agreed with her, Matthew giving a swift nod in her direction.

“Speaking of Nutritional Supplies, I once heard of this really funny story involving an attendant at the Nutritional Facility. After the third Nutritional session, he was clearing the disposal boxes when he suddenly slipped, and the entire hatch opened and the boxes spilled out all over the floor! Of course the boxes were all completely sealed... imagine the mess it would have created if they weren't!” she laughed, and this time the entire table laughed with her. Even Matthew did; the Mood Lighting, stimulative music and being caught up with the laughter were the main cause of that. “The entire Nutritional Facility fell absolutely silent. Everyone was staring at the boxes that were almost covering the entire section of floor. It took at least half a minute for the attendant to snap out of his shock and start picking all the boxes up!” the entire table laughed again. “Of course, it didn't really work; more cleaning attendants arrived with the appropriate equipment later. But he had to file so many apologies after that...”

She stopped, with a wide smile on her face threatening to explode with laughter, as though the rest of the story could tell itself. And it could; it was almost unspoken that filing so many apologies would be a disgrace... but in a fictional story like that it was almost always funny. She cocked her head knowingly, and everyone began to laugh once again with renewed enthusiasm.

Gloria continued to tell her stories as the other Safe receded into a state of passive attention, laughing all the time, and making remarks only occasionally. Matthew nibbled on Nutritional supplies, cube after cube, until it was impossible to remember exactly how many he had consumed. The stacks of Nutritional supplies depleted, and were restocked as the platform lowered and was raised up again, loaded with more stacks of cubes. Matthew didn't keep track of all these – just a constant, pleasing taste in his mouth and the gentle stream of conversation (mostly Gloria), all around him. He wasn't aware of time passing; wasn't aware of how many circles the flashing lights made, and how many times the stimulative music looped; wasn't aware of how many stories had been told, and how many jokes had been bounced around. They had many hours of Social Gathering; it was early, and they often “hoarded” (which was a rather crude and archaic term, but he couldn't think of any other words to describe that) their Social Recreation Hours to make room for this major gathering. They had at least three hours... but five seemed more likely. As it was, it seemed timeless, as it always did during Social Gatherings like these, but this one especially. It didn't actually matter; a loud announcement would sound throughout the entire room when time was running out.

Gloria picked out another Nutritional supply from the platform, and popped it delicately into her mouth. “This tastes so good,” she gushed to Ashley beside her. “It's a wonder they don't serve this in the Nutrition boxes... although the food in there tastes good, of course.”

“That's because these Nutritional supplies don't have nearly as much Nutritional value, Gloria,” Ashley giggled, sampling another one for herself. “And besides, what tastes good and what doesn't is very subjective. I've heard of quite a few Safe that don't like the Nutritional supplies here at all. I personally didn't like the ones that were released about a year ago.”

“I suppose you're right, Ashley,” Gloria replied, smiling graciously. “I appreciate the clarification very much.”

Peter, who had been the second largest contributor to the conversation so far, suddenly spoke up, slowly chewing a cube of Nutritional supply. “You know...” he said, “the taste of these Nutritional supplies reminds me of something from the twenty first...” (he drew out this part, as the entire table fell silent) “...century. From way, way back. May I ask, would you like to hear about it?”

Nobody spoke.

Along with everyone else, Matthew didn't speak. No one talked about the twenty first century. It was the past... it was violent, crude, archaic, ancient. Nobody knew much about it, but they knew that nobody wanted to. Matthew stared at the Nutritional supply cube in his hand. Perhaps if this was a... remainder of the twenty first century, he should not eat it. He saw a few others around the table also looking hesitantly over their Nutritional supply cube. But what could the... crude, almost animal like (another archaic term meaning... he didn't exactly know what) humans of the past appreciate of this incredible taste?

“I'd like to hear about it.”

Everyone turned and looked at Gloria, who continued to consume her Nutritional supply cube.

“I'd like to know... what this could possibly have had to do with life in... the past. I'm finished.”

“Well, then,” Peter gave a big smile to everyone, spanning the table, from Michael on the right, to Matthew on the left.